Knowledge is Power
by Deus Tenebrae
Summary: Naruto, being the curious prankster he always is, stumbles upon a unique new ally. With his help, and the help of new friends from many other worlds, will he be able to reach his destiny or will he simply become another dark rumor? Warning: I do not hold back so expect mildly graphic scenes and/or language. Multiple X-Over, NaruxSmall Harem, Some bashing but only at the start.
1. I hate reading!

****A/N: This is something I thought of on the spur of the moment and felt like giving it a shot. Feel free to let me know what you all think and if I should tweak it or continue it. Also, when the Codex speaks it is both**** ** _ _ **italicized**__** ** **and**** ** **underlined**** ** **, while**** ** **character**** ** **thoughts are simply**** ** _ _ **italicized**__** ** **. Hope that helps and enjoy this first chapter.****

 ** **EDIT(11/29/16): I fixed some of the spelling errors and I am going to change the whole double formatted idea for Kosho to just being _italicized_.****

Chapter 1: I hate reading!

The village of Konoha was filled with random superstitions. Some were minor; the kind of things you tell kids so they will listen to their parents whereas others were more…intense. One such dark rumor surrounded the large, crumbling library at the far end of the Red Light district of the village.

It was said that many people had gone in there, mostly young teens looking for a thrill, only to vanish without a trace. Some people even said they could hear the wailing of these lost children at night as you walked by.

Many of the villagers avoided the place but one lone boy ignored the stories and went in anyway. This boy had clear blue eyes and a mess of spiky blond hair. His face was adorned with three whisker like birthmarks on each cheek. It was none other than Konoha's resident prankster, Uzumaki Naruto.

 _'Damn, this place is creepy. But for some reason it also makes me feel relaxed…'_ He thought to himself as he ducked under the rotting boards over the doorway and stepped into the entry hall.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

All he got was the echo of his own voice coming back to him from the empty interior. He shivered a bit before taking a deep breath and striding forward, heading toward what looked like a large desk ahead of him.

As he reached it, he ran his small hand along the extremely dusty surface and felt his hand bump something big under a pile of musky papers.

Curious, he grabbed it with both hands and pulled it free. It turned out to be a large, thick leather-bound book with no title. He flipped it over and took a peek at the pages only to find them blank.

He scoffed and went to shut it only for a noise off in the dark to make him turn his head sharply over there. He watched the area only to see a large black rat scurry past his toes, making him curse and jump back against the desk.

As he did, the pages cut his finger and a few drops of blood dripped onto the soft pages of the tome.

He put the bleeding digit into his mouth to stop the flow and watched as the drops seemed to sink into the pages before, to his shock, words appeared. They read _"_ _Analyzing DNA sample…New Master recognized…Beginning bonding to new Master…_ _"_

As the last words appeared, Naruto suddenly shouted as the back of his right hand began to burn like crazy. He looked at it in the dim light from the moon to see an intricate black symbol appear and then seem to disappear again.

He dropped the book and began to back away in fear as it floated off the floor and hovered in front of him, wide open down the center. He gulped as he shakily asked "W-What the heck are you? Are you some kind of…ghost?"

The book stayed still before more words appeared on the left hand page _"_ _ _Greetings, Master. I am not a ghost. I am a powerful item that has been found and lost over many, many years. I have had many titles; each one granted to me by each of my past Masters. I am most often called the Universal Codex, as I have knowledge on nearly everything within my memory.__ _"_

This threw the blonde for a loop. A book was talking back to him like a person… _'_ _ _Maybe I hit my head a minute ago when that rat went by.__ _'_ He thought as he rubbed his neck nervously.

The Codex moved closer, making the boy back up more only for his feet to slip on a broken tile and he fell on his ass. The book stopped and more words filled in _"_ _ _Master, are you alright? Are you injured? I know many kinds of First Aid.__ _"_

Naruto looked up and sighed as he just decided to go along with it for now "No, I'm alright. So, since you keep calling me that, does that me you belong to me now or something?" The book bobbed up and down and he took that as a yes. He scratched his chin for a second before he got an idea "Hey, you said I can name you right? How about I call you Kosho(Old Book) and you can just call me Naruto, okay?"

The tome seemed to still, as if thinking, before bobbing once more _"_ _As you wish, Naruto-sama. I shall accept the name you have given me with_ _honor._ _"_

The blonde grinned as he nodded and then reached out for the Codex. It came over to him and landed gently in his arms. He huffed a bit "You're kind of heavy, Kosho-san. Are you able to shrink a bit or something?" The book vibrated a bit in his arms before doing as asked and shrinking to the size of leather-bound journal with a gold clasp and large gold kanji that read out: Chishiki no Kodekkusu(Codex of Knowledge).

The boy sighed as he tucked his new possession under his arm and snuck out of the building. As he was ducking under the last board, he glanced up to see two of the prostitutes that worked this late staring at him with their jaws dropped. He smiled as he rushed up to them. Due to his being forced to live in the Red Light district, he had begun to see these 'working women' as his older sisters and they saw him as their cute little brother.

"Kiki-neesan! Ai-neesan! What are you guys doing here?" He asked as he gripped his new book a little tighter in worry. They seemed to snap out of it and Ai looked down at him with a concerned frown "Naruto-kun, why in Kami's name were you in there? Don't you know the stories about this place?!" He just grinned wider and nodded.

"Yeah, but there is nothing but rats and old books in there. Not a single ghost or dead body. I just wanted to see if the rumors were true or not. Sorry that I worried you two."

Ai and Kiki shared a look before smiling and kneeling down to wrap their arms around their favorite blonde. Kiki smiled as she kissed his cheek and said "Naruto-kun, we are just glad that you are safe. You know how hard it is for you to be out at night, even on our turf. Who knows when some drunk or something might come along and try to hurt you again?"

The boy looked down at the ground sadly as he recalled the last time that had happened. It had been a Chunnin and the man had way too much to drink. He got so bad that after being kicked out of his favorite bar, he had bumped into the blonde on his way to visit Ai and decided to 'do the village a favor and kill the fucking demon'. Thankfully, Ai and another one of the girls had found him and got him to the hospital in time.

After the Sandaime had found out, he had the man sent to Ibiki and then executed. He then made sure to have someone with Naruto at all times, even going so far as to ask the girls in the district; not that he needed to, as they were going to do it anyways.

Kiki noticed something poking her and saw the book under his arm for the first time. She tilted her head, her shoulder length black hair swaying a bit "Naruto, honey, what is that old book you have there? Did you find it somewhere?" As she said this Ai saw it too and looked it over. It seemed normal if a bit odd with that title.

The young blonde just chuckled a bit as he scratched the back of his head "Yeah. I found it in the 'haunted' library and it just sort of, called out to me, I guess." They seemed to frown but just accepted his answer in the end. Ai took his free hand as they walked him back to her place for the night.

~*~*~*~*~(Next Morning)~*~*~*~*~

As the sun shone in through the soft blue curtains of Ai's small bedroom, Naruto grumbled and rolled over, snuggling his face into the pillows. He felt them shake a bit and heard a giggle before his eyes snapped open. The young blonde reached up to feel his pillow only for him to hear a soft gasp and then another giggle "You know, Naruto-kun, I am happy you like your pillow so much but I think you might be a bit young for me."

The boy jumped out of the bed in shock and saw Kiki, naked as the day she was born, sit up with only the sheet to cover her large chest. His face grew so red, it'd make roses wilt, before turning around and exclaimed "A-ah, Kiki-neesan! I-I'm s-sorry. I'm not a pervert, I swear!" She simply laughed a bit at his nervousness. It was like gentle music to his ears as he heard her get out of the bed and hug him from behind, her breasts rubbing against his small back.

"It's alright, Naruto-kun. I know you are not a pervert. I don't mind really, since it is you and not some random guy."

"Still..."

She shook her head and smiled. He was just too fun to tease sometimes. She knew that he would just be a heart-breaker when he was older but it didn't hurt to get in a little harmless fun here and there. It helped keep him aware of the rules when around women too. She moved around him after one more hug and started to get dressed "Ai should have breakfast ready downstairs. Go ahead and I will meet you guys down there in a minute."

All she saw was a blonde and white blur as he shot downstairs in a split second. She blinked a bit owlishly at her closed door and simply shook her head with a smirk.

When Naruto got downstairs, he smelled his favorite food of all, ramen. He rushed into the dining room and sat down as Ai came out with a mixing bowl full of chicken and vegetable ramen for him to enjoy. Thanks to his Neesans, he had been getting a slightly better diet and since they made it just for him, he ate it even with the vegetables in it. Not like he could really taste them anyways. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and, saying a quick 'Itadakimasu!', dug into his ramen with gusto.

Ai also dug into her more basic breakfast of eggs, a little ham, and some toast. After a minute or two, and two more bowls for the blonde, Kiki came down and was dressed in her work clothes which consisted of a red tank top that was a size too small and barely contained her bust, a black jacket and a skirt that only reached half way down her thighs. She sat next to Ai and began to eat, sharing some light conversation with her two housemates.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door. Ai sighed as she went to go answer it. As she passed him, she knelt down to give Naruto a kiss on the forehead. He stopped eating for a second to smile at her with a light blush before finishing up his ramen. Ai went to the door, opening it a crack to talk to the men outside "What do you want, Shiri-teme?" The man grinned darkly, his teeth yellow and chipped.

"I heard from one of my boys that you've got that demon brat living here. I know a few civillians who would pay me very well to have their way with him. I want you to-"

*SLAM*

He grit his teeth and pointed at the door. Two of his thugs came up and cut the door down with their blades, catching a glimpse of Ai as she hurried into the kitchen. Shiri smirked as he stepped into the little hall and went after her.

He and his pack of morons caught up just as Kiki was pulling Naruto out the back door. Ai felt his bony fingers wrap around her throat from behind and smelled his foul breath as he spoke in her ear "Heh, so I was right. But since he got away for now, I guess we will have to make do with you."

She struggled against his grip only for him to spin her around and backhand her hard enough to knock her to the ground. She began to try and get away, only for the thugs to hold her down. Shiri grinned sickly down at her "Fucking bitch. All this over some damn demon. Screw it. The clients won't care if we get our payment out of your sweet ass before we turn you over. Time to have some fun boys!"

The brutes chuckled lewdly as they began ripping off her clothes until she was only in her bra and panties. Just as Shiri knelt down to tear off those as well, they all heard the back door slam open and saw Nartuo standing there, glaring at them all with all the hate and anger his small frame could muster "Get the hell off my Neesan!" He charged at them, and Kiki, who had caught up, failed to hold him back before he was grabbed around the throat and lifted up by one of the thugs "Hey, Boss. Maybe we should let the little shit do it. After all, he ain't gonna get nothing like it after we hand him over."

Shiri glared at the man, making him sweat, but then it morphed into a vile grin as he snatched away Ai's panties, leaving her bare below the waist "Better yet, let the brat watch as I turn his precious 'Neesan' inside out before I kill her." He leaned over the still struggling Ai and began to undo his pants.

No one noticed a black mark, now more visible than before appear on the blonde's right hand. It resembled a spiral with many small runes swirling into its center. Naruto felt his hand burn and did the only thing he could think off. He swallowed hard and shouted "Kosho-san, please help us!"

The thugs all looked around for a second before laughing at him "The fuck was that supposed to be?" One chortled to the blonde, "You calling out to your little imaginary friend, brat?"

They continued to laugh, even as an oppressive feeling began to saturate the air around them all. Then, like some angered demonic spirit, a voice could be heard _"_ _Understood, Naruto-sama. Initiating enemy termination procedures._ _"_ The feeling grew even worse until it was like the very air was heavy as a mountain and the thugs all collapsed, some panting with sweat pouring off their brows and others were already out cold. Shiri had stood up and was looking around frantically for where the voice had come from. Without warning, a katana made of sharp paper stabbed him in the gut with enough force to exit out his lower back.

He looked up and saw a pair of glowing violet orbs staring down at him from inside an ancient samurai helm. He spat up some blood before gritting his teeth and shouting at the figure "T-The fuck are you?! Do you even know who I am?!" The figure's eyes gleamed as they twisted the blade, making the fool cough up more blood. The same voice as before came from inside the helm _"_ _I am Kosho, Codex of Knowledge and I will protect my Master even if it means eliminating scum like you. And as for who you are, you are Shiri Goko, a con man who sold his skills to the highest bidder, all so you could try and kill the supposed 'demon' that had killed your wife and children._ _"_

Naruto, having been let go when the thug had collapsed like a puppet, walked gingerly over to the eerie samurai as it turned to look down upon him. It seemed to be asking for permission from the blonde. He shook his head "No. That's enough Kosho-san, don't stoop to their level otherwise you're no better than them."

The samurai pondered this before a green glow coated his blade and as he pulled it out of Shiri, the wounds began to heal until the man fell to his knees in shock.

The samurai turned and knelt, offering his sword to Naruto. The boy was unsure what to do, so Kosho explained _"_ _Naruto-sama, as your tool and servant, I ask that you fogive me for letting my emotions control me. I merely wanted to protect you and your loved ones. If I have upset you, then please, take up my blade and strike me in repentance for my actions._ _"_

The whiskered blonde rubbed his sore throat as he thought it over, placing his hand on his servant's helm instead of the blade "I forgive you, Kosho-san. You were only doing what you thought was right in order to defend me. But please, once we have a chance will you tell me what you really are? And how come you can turn into this...thing?" The samurai lifted his head and nodded as he banished the blade and turned to the fool now on the ground.

 _"_ _Be grateful scum. My Master has seen fit to spare you. I suggest you not forget that the next time you dare threaten him or his loved ones again._ _"_

Shiri could only weakly nod before passing out completely. Kosho began to glow violet and then, in a quick flash, had returned to his journal form and into his Master's hands. The boy turned to Ai, seeing her speckled in blood from when Shiri had been stabbed, her eyes shimmering with tears as she looked at him. He moved closer and wrapped his small arms around her neck, just as Kiki came over and joined them on the floor as well. Ai clung to Naruto, letting out all of her pent up emotions with loud, shaking sobs.

Naruto glanced down to the book in his small hand and frowned a little as he worried what he was gonna learn about his new 'friend' and his strange powers. But more importantly, he hoped he wouldn't make him have to read it all from inside the books pages. Why did this bother him? Well, it's simple really...Naruto just plain hated reading.


	2. The devil you know

**A/N: I am very sorry to all of my loyal readers who have been following my story. I was in the middle of finding work when I posted it initially and then found a job at my local fast food joint...then life gave me a solid kick in the balls and I have been dealing with the fallout of it for the last several months.I only really found the time to type out this chapter due to me having a bit of a reprieve from the crap recently.**

 **I will do my utmost to post another chapter or two over the next week but I would like to point out that I have not given up or abandoned this fic at all. I merely have to wade through the ever changing tides of my life in order to find the right time and inspiration.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter and feel free to tell me what you all think of it.**

Chapter 2: The devil you know.

As they all sat in Ai's room on her large bed, they each had separate thoughts about the last few hours. Nartuo was remembering what had happened just after Kosho had nearly killed the bad man, Shiri.

~*~*~*~*~(Flashback, Three hours ago)~*~*~*~*~

Shiri had just passed out and they were huddled in the center of the room when the Sandaime had come running in followed by a small group of ANBU. His face was stern as he froze and took in the sight of the downed men and the bloody, nearly nude form of the woman holding onto his surrogate grandson for dear life.

He frowned as he gently moved toward them and knelt so he could look them in the eye "Kiki-chan, Ai-chan are you both alright? I came here as soon as I felt that oppressive chakra. What happened here?"

Naruto poked his head out from between their squashed breasts, like a large plushie and smiled sadly at his Jiji "They came to hurt us, Jiji. They said they wanted to sell me off or something before Kiki-neesan pushed me out the back door. When I came back in to help Ai, I saw them holding her down but I wasn't strong enough to stop them..."His eyes dimmed slightly as he looked down to the floor. He wanted to tell him about Kosho but decided it would be a bad idea.

The old man looked behind him to see Shiri being lifted up by two ANBU, each waiting for their leader to make his decision on what to do with all of them. He sighed as he ran a hand down his face "Inu, Neko is he still alive?"

They nodded and Inu spoke for them both "Yes, Sandaime-sama, however the blood from the wound he has suffered looks fresh but there are no marks on him. Unless he used some kind of special healing jutsu then I have no idea how that is possible."

He nodded and then stood up again. He moved toward the unconscious man and then held out his hand, into which Neko passed some smelling salts. The Hokage waved them under Shiri's nose and he seemed to stir before blinking blearily up at the white shape in front of him "W-Wha…? Who's there?"

His eyes cleared a bit and he jerked back in shock at the look in the eyes of his village leader "H-Holy shit! Hokage-sama! W-What can I do for you?" The God of Shinobi glared at him and then spoke, his voice laced with steel "Who sent you after these three? Give me their names or so help me I will make sure you spend the rest of your life as Anko's new plaything."

Mitarashi Anko was well known among the common thugs of the village for being a ruthless and sadistic interrogator in the TI department. She was only considered less scary than her boss and teacher Ibiki Morino. The thought of having to go to her made him sweat but he held firm, knowing that it would be a vacation compared to what the clients would do to him if they found out he sold them out.

Seeing the tenuous resistance in his eyes, the old leader merely smirked as he leaned in so their noses were inches from one another "I assure you, Thug-san, that whatever you may think they are able to do to you is worse but I bet they have not considered slowly flaying you alive and having you watch as the biggest snake from your nightmares gobbles up. Every. Dripping. Inch."

The sound of pure malice in the man's voice made it abundantly clear to the trapped fool that he had no choice in the matter so he hurriedly blurted out "Hideki! And Setsume! They were the ones who hired me to find and capture the demon brat and hand him over to them." The Sandaime leaned back and thought this over.

Hideki and Setsume were both influential civilian council members. Hideki Sato was the head of the Merchants Guild and was responsible for overseeing much of the trade that went on every day. Setsume Tsuki, though, was rumored to be close to taking over for him since she had been working as his secretary for almost a decade. Both posed problems if they were removed currently but he would not let this issue slide.

Shiri was sweating as he looked around him and then noticed the blond boy nestled between the two women on the floor. He gulped as he noticed the book gripped in the boy's small hand and then looked into the kid's eyes.

He begged silently for him to help him, somehow, in getting out of this mess. The youth surprised him though by wiggling out of the protective embrace of the two women and walked slowly up to the guy, making all of the adults give him wide eyed stares.

The blond looked up at Shiri and seemed to think about something before he lashed out and his small fist connected smack into the taller male's groin, making him drop to the ground as he became dead weight and cupped his now bruised balls. The kid had a mean right hook for a freaking five year old!

The adults all shared a look before they all burst out laughing when Naruto yelled down at him "That's for trying to hurt Ai-neesan. Now you can't use that thing to hurt any other girls."

Ai winced as she recalled what Shiri had almost done to her and shuddered in Kiki's arms. Naruto saw her shivering and ran over to hug her tightly "Sorry, Ai-neesan… I didn't mean to make you feel upset again." She smiled warmly at him and held him closer as she snuggled her face into his soft golden hair.

The Hokage watched this scene and then sighed. He knew there was going to be hell to pay with the stupid council over what he was going to do next.

"Inu, take a detachment of trustworthy ANBU and apprehend council members Hideki Sato and Setsume Tsuki." The silver haired nin nodded and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

It was then the aged shinobi turned back to Shiri who had recovered some but was still a bit bowlegged from Naruto's 'attack', "As for you, since you gave us something to go on, your sentence will be less severe. Neko, take him to TI and have Inoichi give us a scan of his memories. If only to check the validity of his information and to find out what all happened here."

Hearing that made our favorite blond kind of worried but he felt Kosho grow slightly warm and his soft voice whispering in his mind _'Don't worry, Master. I made sure to use my abilities to erase any mention of me. It will appear as if the man simply forgot or was hallucinating.'_

Naruto smiled and sent silent thanks to his friend for knowing to do that. After the purple-haired ANBU had taken Shiri, the Sandaime turned to the three on the floor and smiled sadly "Ai-chan, Kiki-chan I would like you both to keep Naruto with you two tonight and try to get some rest. I will set up a D-rank to have your house cleaned and fixed so don't worry about it."

The women nodded and then stood with Naruto wrapping his small limbs around Ai, not wanting his neechan to be away from him. They thanked the aged Hokage and went upstairs. After entering Ai's room, they all lay on the bed and simply cuddled one another until eventually they fell into a fitful sleep.

~*~*~*~*~(Present Time)~*~*~*~*~

The two young women were watching the emotions flit across their favorite blond's small face as he came back to reality and then smiled at them while rubbing the back of his head "I guess now is as good a time as any. Kosho, go ahead and show yourself to them."

Their eyes grew as big as plates as the book in his hand floated into the middle of the floor and then, in a whirl of pages and a small flash, turned into the same samurai figure from before.

It sat cross-legged on the floor and nodded to it's Master as the voice wafted over to them _"Greetings, Ai-sama, Kiki-sama. I am Kosho, also referred to as the Codex of Knowledge. You may ask me any questions that you may have about myself and what happened earlier."_

They both shared a look and then Ai spoke up, her voice slightly shaky "Ano, Kosho-san, just what did you mean by 'Codex of Knowledge'?" The figure nodded and then began his explanation.

 _"The term Codex refers not to what I know but what I have learned and contain within me. I am in fact, a special type of demon warrior, better known as a Roahanta(Lore Hunter) that once resided in what you might know as the Forest of Death. I had been sealed there long before this village was founded and when I was released it was by an older woman who identified herself as Uzumaki Mito."_ Here he paused as if recalling the moment brought up bad memories but then he shook his helmeted head and continued.

 _"She told me that she had undone the ancient seal on me because she had need of my power. You see, her husband, the honored Shodaime Hokage had just fought his friend and rival Uchiha Madara and had become ill. Nothing anyone did seemed to work and so she had come to me after hearing of a powerful and knowledgeable demon being sealed in the forest."_

 _"After much thought, I agreed to hear her out on the condition she let me go free after our deal was concluded. I searched through my memories and found something that might help her heal her beloved. It was an old, nearly extinct herb that grew in the highest mountains in Hi no Kuni. Once she had the information she told me to please remain in the forest, at least until she had saved her husband. Reluctant, but without anything better to do, I was willing to do it. I spent the next week training while Mito-hime had gathered a search party and they returned with the last few herbs."_

He took another breath, or he seemed to anyway, before pausing at the look on his young Master's face _"Naruto-sama, is everything alright? You seem worried about something."_ The blond looked up at his friend and smiled softly "I'm fine, Kosho-san. I was just thinking about you being a demon. It doesn't make sense; if you are one then why do you let me order you around and why protect me?"

The helmet tilted to the side and then Kosho nodded _"I was going to mention that near the end but I can skip ahead. The quick summary is that the Shodaime made a full recovery and I was given the right to leave the forest and, if I so wished, return as long as I alerted Mito-hime and Hashirama-sama ahead of time. Before I could leave though, Mito-hime offered me one last deal. Demons have a penchant for being curious and greedy but Roahanta are slightly different. We seek knowledge, not money or power."_

 _"The offer was to use a newly designed seal to grant me the ability to call up any information I wished via a book that I would bind to myself using blood. However, the seal was a little too powerful. Once it was bound to me, we both felt a fluctuation in the chakra, causing all of the items to suddenly meld into one. Thus, my book form was born and the seal that would bind me to another using blood was also stuck within the aforementioned form."_

He sighed a bit as he looked up at the ceiling, an almost somber but happy feeling coming from his form _"Mito-hime had become a good friend over the course of the week I spent in the forest after my release. She often would come to talk with me about any and all things, or just to update me on Hasirama-sama's condition in the hopes there was something small she could do to help him along."_ He paused for a moment then tilted his head down as if saddened by something.

When he continued it was with a glum acceptance _"When the seal backfired and trapped me within the book, she took it upon herself to make sure I was never bound to someone who would abuse my new-found powers."_

Kiki cut in as a thought suddenly occurred to her "Then, she must have bound you to her clan right? That would explain why you are now bound to Naruto-kun. He must share her blood, or at least some of it since he is an Uzumaki."

Kosho nodded and then bowed his head once more _"Correct. My seal was changed so that it would only activate upon coming into contact with the blood of one of her clan members but there is more. Mito-hime was part of the royalty from her clan and thus, she wanted only her family to bear the burden of bonding with me. She had hoped that they would be able to find a way to set me free and to correct the mistake which had forced me into this predicament."_

Naruto, having heard all of this, frowned and got up to go over to his friend. He looked at his bowed head and sad posture before wrapping his small arms around Kosho's neck and hugging him "You're not a burden, Kosho-san. I promise I will help set you free and fix your seal. It may take me a while but I swear I will do it and Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word!"

The two women smiled fondly at their little friend as he made his vow. The demon samurai had raised his head in surprise upon feeling his Master hugging him and, tentatively, wrapped his armored arms around the boy, returning his embrace with reverence and care _"Thank you, Naruto-sama. I know you will. And I will help you in any way I can until that time. But for now,"_ He gently leaned back and his form reverted to the book but it had become just as large as it was the night Naruto had found him.

 _"What do you wish to learn, Naruto-sama?"_ The tome hovered in front of the three humans and they all looked at one another before Ai turned to Kosho with a small smile.

"How about you tell us what the powers you got let you do? That way we know what we can ask and maybe get answers to." Her voice was soft but strong as she regarded the floating book that had quikcly changed everything for them all.

Upon one of the pages an image appeared of a giant tree with a mass of branches that seemed to stretch high into the sky. In the middle of the wide trunk was a smaller image of Naruto smiling out at them. On the tip of each branch was a small, circular picture of Naruto but they all looked slightly different; some were even older and seeing what he might look like as a teen or adult made the two women blush from how handsome he could become.

 _"Very well, Ai-sama. As you can see, this tree is a representation of what I can do. My powers allow me to connect my Master with all worlds in which he is present. Each world is built upon the same template, known as the True History, or canon for short. As time passes in that world, each new and random occurrence has a set of possibilities that are connected to it."_ This made them all a bit confused but they let him continue for the moment.

 _"The True History follows how things have gone while the Fantasy History of each moment branches off into it's own world, called fanon. Each one has another Naruto-sama but they all have differences. Such as, there is one that has Naruto being raised by his father, being raised by his mother, being trained from a young age by Shimura Danzo, and even one where he has contact with a notebook that can kill people."_

To say they were shocked would be a massive understatement. If what Kosho said was true, then they could very well be in one of those Fantasy worlds. Or are they part of the True History?

It all made Naruto's head hurt a bit but he was able to get the gist of it all "So, you can let me find information from these worlds? Or is there more to it?" The book bobbed, which meant yes, and then a strange picture of a chibi Naruto appeared at the top of the other page.

Below the picture, a long list of information appeared and as each new line formed, Kosho explained further what it all meant.

 _"I can, after linking up with the correct world and time-line, effectively transport us both to each world but afterward, it takes around a month to gather the needed chakra to do so again. I am also able to show you important stats and info about your current state; such as height, weight, muscle mass, possible illness, and even current skills in different ninja arts and the powers you can gain in each world."_

This made the boy grin like mad. He could become Hokage in no time if he trained using Kosho's powers! But then he thought a little more about it and nearly smacked himself for thinking of using Kosho as nothing more than a tool.

As they watched some of the numbers began fluctuating and then seemed to settle again. Seeing their curious looks, he chuckled a bit _"Certain parameters, such as heart rate and emotional level, have a tendency to change. My readings are accurate within a 10 second interval; which just means that there is a small delay in my readings being updated."_

Naruto seemed to get what his friend was aiming at. Since he had gotten over excited about the idea of using his friend's skills to help him train, his heart beat quicker which is why the stat that read 'Heart Rate' had changed then went back to normal.

Kiki, who had been very quiet so far, decided to ask a question as well "Kosho-san, when you said powers of each world, did you mean that each version of Naruto has special skills and that they can then teach them to our Naruto? If that is true, then is he able to use all of the powers even if he is not in that fanon at the time or is it only when he is in that timeline?"

Her two friends stared at her making her blush but she remained focused on the demonic tome in front of her.

A little known fact about Kiki, mainly because she never shared it with anyone other than a small few, was that she had at one point been a member of the Nara clan and shared their sharp mental ability.

The demon book seemed to hum a bit before flipping to a few blank pages and new information filled it in. The top of the left page read 'Current Powers/Abilities' and the right one read 'Potential Powers/Abilities' and next to it showed a page marker. Which probably meant that there was several other pages of powers that Naruto could learn.

It was after everything stopped filling in that Kosho spoke once more _"As you all can see, Naruto-sama has very few powers right now, with some being blurred out due to a lack of information on what they are on his part. I know what they are but if Master does not find out on his own then there would be no point to him training. For now, he can potentially use chakra, has a very large amount of it; nearly the same as a Jonin at this point, and heals at a very accelerated rate."_

The name on the other page glowed faintly as the Lore Hunter continued his lesson _"And on this page, and the nineteen following it, are listed all of the possible powers. Many of them require that certain conditions be met first. One such condition would be something akin to having Jonin ranked Chakra Control or something similar. Others are able to be unlocked through training and the introduction of the power into my Master's body or Chakra system."_

At this, Naruto got curious about something but was too tired to deal with it right now as he let out a very large yawn. The two young women smiled and then pulled him next to them again as they all curled up on the bed. Ai had one last question for Kosho "Could you maybe tell us some stories about Mito-sama? I bet Naruto-kun would love to hear about his ancestor."

The tome transformed back into the samurai and sat against the wall near the bed, facing the door in case of danger, and began to tell them about one of Mito-hime's many visits to his cave. As he weaved the tale all of them began to slowly drift back to sleep. Two of them were wondering if anything to do with their favorite blond boy was going to be normal again, while said blond had many images of the many adventures he was going to have in the future running through his mind as he finally let sleep take him.


End file.
